


A Stolen Childhood

by apharaohstory



Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Ahk goes through some teen angst, Other, ahk maybe falls in love, near death experiances, usual museum chaos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 13:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4566501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apharaohstory/pseuds/apharaohstory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The museum has all but gone bankrupt, leaving the board no choice but to make some difficult decisions. Against McPhee's better judgement, he is left with no choice but to sell his most prized exhibit back to it's home country. Ahkmenrah is being taken back to Egypt. With the chances of the magic being lost forever high, and Ahk reluctant to leave his new found home for his old one, his inner teenager really begins to burst through. Larry and the other Exhibits are left with no choice but to try and find a way to save their friend, even if it means risking all of their dignity....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mushroom Cup

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys, thanks for picking this as your story of choice for the moment. I really hope you like it, and I really hope you find my take on the story and characters to be interesting and entertaining. This story does not take place in any movie, it kind of has its own timeline. Also, there will be a great deal of modern day pop culture references since the story has a lot of focus on Larry's son Nicky and his friendship with the Pharaoh.
> 
> disclaimer: I do not own any part of Night at the Museum

“40-Love. Game point.” a robotic female voice stated mater-of-factly through the surround sound speakers of an abandoned intern office. On screen, a bunch of very strange looking bowling pin shaped figures with large heads and hovering spheres for arms hopped around on their non-existent legs in celebration. A clap track played in the background.  
“Well this just doesn't make any sense, how do they expect a person to hit a ball when it doesn't actually exist!? And with a white stick thing covered in buttons none the less!” Teddy Roosevelt stood in shock and awe at the television screen before him. He remembered playing tennis every now and again with his family, but this “Wii” tennis thing made absolutely no sense to him. Nicky Daley had told him that it was a game so easy, even a cave man could do it. He said that all Teddy had to do was swing his arm around and try not to think too much about what he was actually doing. He said that the “Wii” thing was very easy to fool into thinking you were actually trying to do what you were suppose to. This much must have been true, for Theodore actually had been beaten by a neanderthal. The president attributed this to his ever present habit of over thinking things. It seemed that these new “video games” especially the ones that fell under the “virtual reality” category really weren't his thing. They required too little thinking.   
Standing next to Teddy, a very happy caveman was jumping up and down enthusiasticly. He was amazed by the white stick he could swing around in front of the “fire box” that made pictures. He didn't entirely understand what exactly it was that he was doing but he could tell by his competitor’s posture that he had some how managed to win whatever game they had been playing. It was officially the best day of his life.   
With a heavy sigh Teddy slipped the safety strap off of his wrist before wandering over and helping his excited “before common era” friend do the same.   
“Good game old sport.” He congratulated his competitor, with a hardy slap on the back.   
The cave man returned the favor, causing Teddy to jump forward slightly with the force. He rubbed his shoulder, and shot the ecstatic cave person a very dignified and presidential “death glare.” Off in the corner of the room, Sacagawea attempted to hide her amusement behind her latest issue of “Gardening Weekly” which Larry had brought her earlier that evening as a surprise.  
Teddy caught her amused smile just as she was pulling the magazine over her face. He smiled slyly to himself and shook his head wondering what it was that he did to deserve a woman who still managed to be so lovely, even while mocking him.   
Nicky Daley stood in the rickety doorway of the old abandoned office/museum game room with his honorary big brother, Ahkmenrah, by his side. The look on his face was one of confusion and creeped-out-ness. He didn't completely understand love; He was too young and was the product of divorced parents. All he knew was that girls had cooties and marriage wasn't forever and ended in a lot of arguing. This being said, watching teddy stand there, Wii remote in hand, making goo-goo eyes at Sacagawea was making him sick.   
Ahkmenrah, Fourth king of a Fourth king and ruler of the land of his people, chuckled quietly to himself. He remembered very clearly what he was like at Nicky's age and the look on his best friend's face was quite amusing. Romance hadn’t been a common thing in the museum before Larry had arrived, especially not between two models from different exhibits (Gus and the other awful night guards hardly allowed romance between members of a single exhibits), so now that it had begun to blossom, Ahkmenrah was determined to make sure nothing stifled it. Furthermore, he was determined that his friend's childish comments about the supposed invisible parasites living on females. No, the “cooties” wouldn't be ruining anything for anyone as long as he was around to make sure that Nicky didn't inform anyone about that modern day scientific discovery. Now, if only he could interrupt the pair before Nicky did...  
The Pharaoh cleared his throat, causing the 26th President of the United States to jump...nearly out of his skin. It wasn't what the Egyptian king had had in mind, but it had worked none the less.  
“Ah, hello boys!” Teddy greeted, sounding a bit startled still, “How are you this evening?”  
“I am well, thank you Theodore.” Ahkmenrah replied with a slight bow before sliding his hand beneath his honorary brother's chin to shut his gaping mouth.  
Nicky looked up at him stunned. Nothing that had just happened registered in his young mind.  
The older boy stood a little taller, a mischievous look in his eye and a sly smile playing about the corners of his mouth.   
“Nicky, I do believe the President has asked you how you fare this evening, it would be rather rude of you not to respond.” He scolded gently in his best “Pharaoh” voice.  
“Uh...” Nicky fumbled, “Oh, Um...I'm alright.” He blushed a deep crimson.  
“Very good.” Replied Teddy with an amused look in his eye.   
Sacagaweagiggled behind her magazine as she rose from the couch in the corner of the room. With Teddy's look of amusement mirrored in her eyes, she crossed the room to take her gentleman's arm.  
“Hello boys.” She greeted them warmly.  
Off to the side, the caveman grunted irritatedly before randomly sprinting out of the room, pushing past the two boys in the doorway. Nobody even blinked in surprise. Outbursts like this had become the norm for the cave people. However, the air in the room still hung heavy with the awkwardness of earlier events.  
Sacagaweawas the one who finally broke the silence.  
“Well,Theodore we really must be off. Attila's horses have probably driven Texas to the brink and you did promise the boys they could play the white stick game when you were finished.”  
“Indeed I did.” Replied Teddy, “Boys, I do hope you have a grand time, and my good Pharaoh” he turned to Ahkmenrah, “I hope the stick game makes more sense to you than it did to I.”  
The king smiled, “Thank you Theodore.”  
“Well, we must be off” The president tipped his hat to the two boys as he lead his lady from the room.  
The King nodded politely to the pair as they passed, and Nicky gave an awkward wave. His eyes dropped to the floor as soon as the two love birds rounded the corner and out of sight. His cheeks still burned a deep crimson.  
The Pharaoh, who had managed to keep himself composed throughout the entire extremely awkward ordeal, let out one very un-regal snort...that soon erupted into a poorly concealed snicker. He knew it was wrong, especially since he really did feel for his young friend, but he honestly couldn't help it. That and for some reason, Nicky took the regal right out of him. When the ten year old glared at him, he tried his best to put his “Pharaoh” face back on, but a smile couldn't help but play at the corner of his mouth as it had done before. Thankfully, Nicky gave in and let a smile overcome him as well.  
“Shut up.” He grumbled, gently slugging his friend in the arm, “Let's just move the couch back so we can play.”  
A few minutes later the boys had managed to put everything back where it belonged. What really (as Nicky would put it) “sucked” about having a game room in a small intern office was that in order to play games that required the whole body like “Wii sports” or “Dance Dance Revolution” was that the couches and end tables that were set up often had to be pushed off to the side and stacked on top of each other (especially the extra chairs). This became a great inconvenience whenever a different kind of sit-down game was to be played. Everything had to be put back in it's place and it took some time to do. So when everything was finally back together, the Egyptian King was more than happy to sink back into the soft cushions of the used, moth eaten, 1970s thrift store couch. Nicky however, was still full of energy.  
“So Ahk, do you want to play 'Mario Cart 7' or 'Mario Party 8'?” He asked as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, buzzing with life and youth.   
“What is the difference?”  
“Well, Mario Cart is a racing game. You have a car that you can customize to look however you want, and drive however you want based on the items you unlock. The cars look different for every character as well. Mario party is a game with lots of little games inside. You can choose a bunch of different board games, and then when you roll the dice sometimes you have to go through little challenges called 'min-games'. It's really fun....well, actually they both are.”  
“Hmmm. So Mario's cart, is that like a chariot racing game?”  
“Um, no. It's like remote controlled cars...like Jed and Octavius's.”  
“Oh, alright. I think I understand. So does this Mario own both of these games? Did you borrow them from him?”  
“No. Mario is the main character of the game. He has a lot of games written about him and his little brother Luigi.”  
“Does he now?”  
“Yeah. Mostly the games are about them trying to rescue their friend Princess Peach, but sometimes they make games about board games, or racing, or battling other game heroes...like 'Super Smash Brothers Brawl.'”  
“He smashes and brawls with his brothers?”  
“Well....kind of. That game is a little too complicated for you yet though...so let's just pick one of the two I mentioned before.”  
The Pharaoh nodded in understanding, “Alright. Well, I always did like chariot races. Why don't we play Mario's cart.”  
“Cool!” Nicky walked up to the Wii and popped the disk into the slot.  
“So Nicky, how does Mario get his carts onto the white stick system?”  
“Um....that's a complicated question. I don't really understand it myself. It has a lot to do with how the wires are arranged inside the system and how the laser reads the disk.”  
“Mario has his carts on a disk...like how George Lucas has his stories on disks...like DVDs?”  
“Yeah! Like a DVD, but it can only work on the Wii.”   
“And the 'We' is...?”  
“This white box.” he placed his hand on the slender and sleek gaming system that glowed a bright blue as it came to life.  
“And the white sticks?”  
“Are the wireless controllers. The black bars on the front are the sensors. They allow the console to communicate with how you move while holding the controller.”  
“Oh, I see.”   
Nicky took out the two steering-wheel shaped, plastic holders for the Wii remotes that made them easier to use while playing Mario cart.  
“And what are those?”  
“Controller adapters...they make it easier to steer the carts.”  
“They look like the wheel inside Jed's Jeep.”  
Nicky giggled, “That's because they basically are.”

Hours later, Ahkmanrah had finally gotten the hang of driving around the most basic track in 'Mario Cart' and he was pretty good too. In fact, on his last round, he beat Nicky last minute because by “the grace of Ra” he got a blue shell from one of the mystery boxes. Nicky was stopped dead in his tracks milliliters from the finish line, and stalled just long enough for the Pharaoh's chosen character, Bowser, to cross the finish line before his friend had a chance to properly recover. Although the young Daley was ever so slightly bummed by this experience, he couldn't help but relish in Ahkmenrah's victory. The two whooped and hollered like they had just won the Stanley Cup.   
Larry Daley, Night Guard at the Museum of Natural History and Guardian of Brooklyn, now stood in the doorway watching his two sons (Ahkmenrah might be a 4000 year old Egyptian king who died at the age of 18, but he was still considered family none the less) carry on like two overly excited sports fanatics at the World Cup. It warmed his heart to see them this happy. It really was a shame that he was about to ruin their night completely.  
“Hey guys,” He called into the room as cheerfully as he could, “What's going on?”  
“Oh. Sorry Guardian, were we being too loud? I'm terribly sorry for the disturbance, it's just that I have borrowed Mario's cart and I managed to find a blue, enchanted turtle that I threw at Nicholas and stalled his cart temporarily, causing me to leave the competition victorious.”  
Larry gave him a very confused look.  
“We were playing 'Mario Cart' dad,” Nicky explained, “And Ahk used a blue shell on me right as I was about to cross the finish line. He raced past me and won.”  
“Oh...”Larry understood perfectly, “Well done Ahkmenrah. Congrats on learning to play 'Mario Cart.'”   
“Thank you Guardian.” He beamed.  
“Look guys,” Larry continued nervously, “I hate to ruin your evening, but we need to talk.”  
“Is there something the matter Guardian?”  
“Dad, what's wrong?”  
“Well....you both should sit down.”  
They did as they were asked.  
Larry scratched the back of his neck, not knowing how to continue. What he was about to say was going to ruin more than just their night. This news was probably about to ruin both of their lives.  
“You see guys, the thing is....”  
“Just spit it out dad!”   
“Alright!....Look, Mc Phee asked me to pick up some reports off of his desk tonight to look over for the new security procedures that are going to be enacted in six months time, which I think is a little over-kill to give me that far in advance, but you know McPhee, and well after finding out what I did I'm glad he's so OCD, and....”  
“You are babbling Guardian.” Ahkmenrah was becoming impatient.   
Larry took a deep breath and looked the Pharaoh right in the eyes. He knew the best way to go about this was to just say it.  
“The museum has lost a lot of funding. They are selling your exhibit back to Egypt to make up for the loss.”  
There was a heavy moment of silence.  
Nicky was the first to speak...or rather scream.  
“WHAT!” he raged, “Do the others know about this!?”  
“Well...not yet. I figured since Ahk was the one involved, he should be the first to know. Speaking of Ahk,” He turned to his mummy friend “Are you alright?”  
The pharaoh sat rigid and pale on the edge of the couch, his world metaphorically crashing around him. No, actually, his world was literally crashing down around him. The room was spinning and his vision was blacking out. He had to get out of there before he injured himself...or worse, his pride. He couldn't let his friends see him like that: weak and defenseless. He was a ruler, a strong and dignified ruler, not a weak and helpless peasant.   
The young king jumped to his feet, and briskly walked out the game room door and into the vacant marble-floored hallway.   
“Ahk! Where are you going?” Nicky called as he rose to chase after him.   
Larry stopped him in the doorway.  
“Nick, just let him deal with this on his own right now, okay?”  
“No!” The child struggled against his father's restraint. He broke free just as the sound of metal clanking to the floor echoed through the hallway. Nicholas Daley burst into the corridor just in time to see the his best friend's unconscious head hit the marble, and his great crown slowly roll away from the young hand that had clearly tried to catch it as it's owner fell.


	2. Surprising Behavior

Ahkmenrah awoke on the threadbare, lumpy couch in the game room with four very anxious faces staring down at him. As his eyelids fluttered open Teddy Roosevelt’s mustache twitched with the relief that was mirrored in Sacajawea's heavy sigh. Larry Daley closed his eyes in a silent prayer to his god thanking him for his ancient friend's well being. Nicky Daley just stood there with heavy wet tears dropping from his chin onto the couch's arm rest.   
It took a moment for the good king to register what had happened. Turned out he had feinted in front of his friends after all, and his pride was deeply wounded. His cheeks turned the color of a chili pepper with a combination of embarrassment and self shame. He shot upright, the room spinning ever so slightly, and glared at his concerned friends.  
“What are you all doing here standing around?!” He demanded in his sharpest tone. He tried to sound imposing and absolute, like the Pharaoh he was suppose to be, but his words came out sounding like a bratty English teenager on the verge of throwing a hissy-fit.  
“Making sure you are alright.” Larry snapped back. If Ahk was going to act like the child, he was going to treat him like one. Even if he could understand where his surrogate son was coming from, it didn't give him any good reason to lash out like this. He felt the old saying “Don't shoot the messenger” should be applied to the situation.   
“I'm fine.” Ahkmenrah huffed, “I just...need some space.” 54 years of being locked in a coffin had taken it's toll and with all of these people crowded around him in this tiny room...his Claustrophobia was starting to kick in. It was much easier to deal with when he was asleep.  
Everyone took a cautious step back but Nicky.   
“Ahk,” He sniffled, “Are...are you alright?”  
The Pharaoh turned to him with flashing eyes, but the look on his dear friend's young face melted the mask of propriety he had snapped in place. As said before, Nicky took the regality right out of him.  
“Of course I'm alright.” Ahkmenrah sniffed, trying to keep hold of that one last shred of dignity he had. The thread snapped however, and he kicked into big-brother mode. He snatched the ten-year-old close to his chest ( a little more roughly than he intended to) and attempted to comfort him.   
“There there, Nicholas. Don't cry on my account. Everything is perfectly alright. I'm in perfect condition, I promise.” He hoped the boy couldn't see what a huge lie that really was. He had nothing left. Not his dignity, not his regality, and soon not his family.  
“Everything may be alright now, but you are going to be leaving soon. They're going to take you away from us!” The child continued to sob.  
Teddy and Sacagawealooked at Ahkmenrah with a very confused and worried look on their face.  
“What does he mean 'they are going to take you away from us'?” Inquired the President.  
Ahkmenrah sighed heavily, “Go ahead and tell them Guardian. Every one is going to have to know eventually.”  
Larry suddenly felt very uncomfortable as four sets of eyes turned to him for answers, “I was doing some paperwork for McPhee, and as I was reading through the reports It mentioned that the museum has lost a considerable amount of money lately. Even with business being better than it has been in years, there have still been a lot of repairs and things done to make sure that this building is a place the public wants to be. As a result, McPhee and the museum board have decided that the best way to earn the money back, plus some extra for new children's programs, would be to sell Ahkmenrah's exhibit back to the Egyptian government. In short, they want to send him home.”  
“They can't do that!” Sacagaweashouted at the same time Teddy shouted “That's absurd!”  
“I agree with both of you, but there isn't anything we can do.” Larry apologized.  
“There is always something we can do Lawrence!” Teddy argued, “It's just a matter of taking the time to think about it! How long do we have before the good Pharaoh is to leave us?”  
“McPhee is pretty pretentious about these kinds of things. He likes to make sure everything is in working order, like a well oiled machine so...”  
“How long, my boy!?”  
“Six months.”  
Teddy let out a small sigh of relief, “Well, at least he's not going tomorrow. That gives us some time.”  
“Some time! Teddy, that's six months to come up with something like 30 million dollars! It's not like Ahk is being loaned to another museum, or even a private science institution like he has before. He's being sold! To a government! I don't have that kind of money! No one who visit's this museum has that kind of money! I'm not even sure if the museum's annual revenue is that much money! There are only a hand full of people living in New York with that kind of cash, and their last name is Rockefeller!”   
“Well then maybe you can talk McPhee into asking for a hearty donation.”  
“Yeah! Like that's going to happen!”  
Everyone's face fell, and Nicky began to sob again. Even Ahkmenrah's eyes were starting to gloss over with tears...though he would never admit it. The sight made Larry sick to his stomach. He couldn't do this. He couldn't just stand there and watch his two sons cry, and he couldn't disappoint Teddy like this. Teddy was too much like a father figure to him, and Sacagawea too much like a mother. He already had one set of disappointed parents back in Chicago, who couldn't believe that when their son finally landed a real job and it was as a night guard. He couldn't disappoint his other set of parents by being the night guard who ended their secret night life and let their best friend leave. He was their Guardian and their friend. He had to try to do something.   
“Alright!” he ran his fingers through his hair, a sure sign he was stressed, “I will talk to McPhee tomorrow and see if there is something we can do to keep the exhibit here. Ahkmenrah, you are going nowhere!” He looked down at his watch, “Okay guys, twenty minutes 'till sunrise. Let's round everyone up and get them back to their places.”  
Ahkmenrah got to his feet. He must have moved a little too quickly because he wobbled a bit and had to grab the arm of the sofa for support. He thought he was being nonchalant, but everyone saw what he was doing. Especially Larry.  
“On second thought...Teddy, can you and Sacagawea go round everyone up and make sure they return to their places? Especially the cave people, please. I really don't want to be stuck explaining their strange poses to McPhee again.”  
“And where will you be, my good man?” Teddy inquired.  
“Nicky and I will be making sure that Ahk finds his way safely back into his sarcophagus without any more incidents.”  
The Pharaoh shot him a sharp look.  
“Of course.” The president tipped his hat and headed for the door.  
“Oh, and Teddy?”   
The president stopped in his tracks and turned to the night guard.  
“Please don't tell anyone about what's going on with Ahk's exhibit. Not until I talk to McPhee and come up with some ideas about how we are going to fix this. Seriously, I don't want anyone else freaking out or starting a riot or something.”  
“I won't breath a word.”  
“Thanks Teddy.”  
“No problem. Good night.” and with that he turned and left.  
No sooner had the President turned the corner than Ahkmenrah had another outburst.

“Laurence, you can't be serious!?” The use of the night guard's full first name was, in Ahk's mind, a symbol that he had momentarily lost enough respect for him to be called “Guardian” but at the same time hadn't screwed up enough to be referred to as “Larry” or simply just “You.”  
Larry threw his arms up in the air, “Ahk, I don't know what else you want me to do. Clearly you are still shaky on your feet, and I don't want to have to call Teddy back again to help me drag your happy behind back here for you to wake up. It's too close to sunrise! I don't want to have to explain to McPhee why his four thousand year old mummy is outside of it's sarcophagus!”  
“That isn't going to happen, I'm fine!”  
“Like Hell you are!”  
The Pharaoh crossed his arms across his chest and gave Larry the best “I'm the king here, not you” stare that he could muster. Larry caught on to the game he was playing and spun the tables in a different direction.   
“I know that look Ahk. You may be the king, but I am the father figure here. You are going to do as I say.”  
Ahk rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. It was very out of character for him to be this blatantly disrespectful, especially with a child who viewed him as a role-model so close at hand. However, he just couldn’t help it. For some reason tonight's news had brought out the inner bratty, entitled teenager that he had been stifling for centuries.   
The pharaoh felt a small tugging on his tunic. He flicked his eyes to the young Daley standing next to him.   
“Ahk, you aren't making any sense. Usually you are the most reasonable and smart person I know but you aren't acting like yourself and it's kind of scary. Dad just wants to help is all. We're worried about you. You gave us quite the scare earlier.”  
Ahkmenrah softened at the child's kind words. Nicky really did have quite the effect on him. “You are right Nicholas, I'm sorry.” He patted his friend on the head gently before turning to his father, “I apologize to you as well Guardian. I don't know what's gotten into me tonight, but I'm starting to act more like Khamunrah...and that's really something I don't want to do. He was a dreadful child, and only got worse as he got older...” a shiver ran down his spine as he thought about the very last time had spoken with his brother before he entered the afterlife. The look on his face must have let on more than he had thought because Larry was staring at him with Sympathy in his eyes. Ahkmenrah responded with a weak smile. “Well, if the sun is to rise soon then I suppose we must be off. I shan't let you get in trouble on my account, Guardian.”  
Larry Smiled at him as the pharaoh slung his arm around his shoulder. Either the young ruler was more physically unstable than he was letting on, or the memory of his terrible older sibling was enough to scare him back into his propriety and he was humoring him by allowing the guidance back to his exhibit. Nicky trailed behind, pleased that he was able to bring his friend back to his senses.   
When they reached the exhibit's gates, Ahkmenrah removed his arm from Larry's shoulder and straightened himself to his full height. It was a spoken rule that no one was to enter the area with him when it was time to return to his coffin. He wanted his friends to think of him as a strong ruler that had absolutely no weaknesses. Therefore, no one was to be there at the end of each night when he had to face all three of those weaknesses at once. He gave the night Guard a slight bow as he bid him good night, or rather a good morning. Nicky, of course, managed to weasel a hug out of him.  
When the pair had rounded the corner, out of sight, he walked past his jackal body guards holding his head high as he mentally prepared himself for the worst part of every night. He stopped at the edge of his sarcophagus and tried to talk himself into believing that he really wasn't about to bury himself alive. He was technically already dead, so it wasn't physically possible for him to be buried alive. This little fact, by the grace of reverse psychology, worked wonders to help prepare him for the next fear he had to face.   
He stepped into the gilded coffin and began to lower himself down. If he still had a heart inside his body, it would have been beating a million times a minute. As it was, he already had a fluttery feeling where his stomach should have been...had it not been removed and placed in a clay pot during the embalming process. As his head settled back against the hard floor of the sarcophagus, he could already feel the walls tightening around him (his claustrophobia kicked into high gear once more) and as he prepared to slide the lid closed over him, he gave himself one last mental pep-talk.   
Larry Daley was in charge now. The Guardian of Brooklyn was not like the others had been. No longer would he spend another night trapped inside his gaudy prison. 54 Years had scared him, but those events needn't repeat themselves. He would be freed at night fall. That was a guarantee.   
It was with these thoughts that the Pharaoh finally closed his eyes and pulled the heavy stone over him. All he had to do now was pray to the gods that the sun would rise before his thought got the better of him, leaving him in a frozen, mummified state unable to think himself back into depression. He also prayed that the end of the day would arrive soon, so that he wouldn't have long to struggle through his greatest fear: loneliness.


	3. Propositions

Larry Knocked lightly on the heavy cherry wood door of the museum director's office. He checked his tie in his reflection coming off of the shiny brass surface of Dr. McPhee's huge name plate. He knew that if he was about to make a request like this, he was going to have to make his boss listen to him, which incidentally meant that he had to make sure that he looked like he was worth listening to. After all of the situations that had happened in the past, Larry had learned that the best thing to do was to keep a fresh suit in his locker back in the security office, along with a basic toiletries kit, so that in case ha had to make an emergency early morning meeting such as this one, he would be ready to plead any case to McPhee. After all, he was the only voice the exhibits had once the sun came up, and they needed him (now more than ever) to use it.  
“Who is it?” Groaned a very put off sounding British voice.  
Larry pushed the door open gently, and peeked his head around the corner. Across the room, sitting behind a giant wooden desk in an archaic looking black leather arm chair, a pudgy and stuffy Englishman with perfectly slicked back hair was shuffling through a huge stack of papers looking rather frantic. His eyes flicked up from his paperwork and his expression faded to one of exasperation when he realized it was the Night Guard there to see him.  
“Oh, it's you.” He stated flatly, “What do you want?”  
“Uh,” Larry started nervously, “Well, actually I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk.”  
Dr. McPhee nodded at the other arm chair sitting across from him, “Take a seat. What did you do this time?”  
Larry settled into the comfort of the huge chair, praying that his nerves would settle. Of course, they would not. “Why did talking to McPhee always have to be such a production?”  
The look on the director's face mirrored this thought. Why did their conversations always have to be a big production?  
“I...I haven't...I haven't done anything.” Larry finally stuttered his response.  
“Really?” His boss's look was skeptical.  
“Honestly. Nothing. I haven't done nothing.”  
“Anything.” McPhee corrected, “You haven't done anything.”  
“Right, yeah. I haven't done anything.”   
There was a short pause  
“It's a double negative.” McPhee broke the silence  
Larry looked confused, “What?”  
McPhee rolled his eyes, “You can't say that 'You haven't done nothing' because it's a double negative. You are then saying that you have in fact done something.”  
“Oh....right.” Larry nodded along trying to make it seem like he knew what the other man was talking about.  
“You haven't the foggiest idea what I'm on about, do you?”   
The night guard shook his head, looking like a child who just got caught stealing from the cookie jar, “No...” he answered slowly.  
McPhee sighed one of his 'If you weren't the best damn night guard I've ever had I would fire you for being such a moron who can't even (insert topic every person is taught in school here)' sighs. In this case that “insert here” box was filled with the words “manage basic grammar.”  
There was an awkward pause before the doctor decided that his time was being wasted and got to the point, “Why are you here Mr. Daley?” He asked rather irritated and impatient.  
“Well,” Larry began, twiddling his thumbs, “I read through the paperwork you asked me to read through yesterday and I came across something that really, kind of....confused me.”  
“Why doesn't that surprise me, Mr. Daley.”   
Larry took note of how much his boss sounded like every school principal he had ever had growing up.  
“What is it that you don't understand.?”  
“Well, um...I don't understand why Ahk's exhibit is being sold?”  
“Who?”  
“Ahk...um sorry, Ahkmenrah. The Pharaoh....I sort of...I sort of gave him a nick name.”  
“You do realize that he is dead, right Mr. Daley? And that he is a Pharaoh...a king?”  
“Yeah...sorry. I won't call him that anymore.” He made a mental note to only refer to the Egyptian ruler by his nickname when around his son and other museum exhibits.  
“Good.” The director continued, “Now, to answer your question, if you had read the paperwork carefully you would have seen that the reason why the exhibit is being sold is because the Museum has lost a great deal of money in property repairs these past few years. More visitors means that the exhibits need more routine cleaning done, and since you have been working here, a lot of other random property damages have occurred.” He gave Larry one of his standard “I'm on to you” glares, “In short, we were broke before and now that we have even more visitors, we are even more broke. It wasn't truly my decision to sell the Pharaoh back to the Egyptian government, it was the board. Quite frankly I like our Egyptian exhibit, and it seems to be a public favorite as well, but in order to keep these doors open, something had to go and Ahkmenrah and his tablet are the exhibit we can make the most money off of.”  
“How much are you selling him for?” Larry demanded.  
McPhee raised his eyebrows and scoffed, “Not any amount a night guard has in his savings I can assure you.”  
'Not with the salary you pay me' Larry thought to himself, “I know that” he argued, “I still would like to know how much.”  
McPhee hesitated, “Typically that would be confidential information....but since I know how you feel about these exhibits...”  
'Actually, you have no clue how I feel about these guys'  
“The Egyptian government and the board are trying to haggle the price to be between 25 and 30 million”   
Larry gasped. That was not just a lot of money, that was a crap ton of money!  
McPhee smiled arrogantly.  
“Look,” Larry started, “You are right. I don't have that kind of money. No one in the state of New York has that kind of money....except for one family.” Larry couln't believe he was about to listen to Teddy and go here “ The Rockefellers.”  
McPhee burst out laughing, scaring the night guard half to death. This was a new sight for him.  
“You think...we haven't...haven't tried?” The typically stuffy man gasped between bursts of laughter.  
“Well, I mean...”  
McPhee stopped short and wiped a tear from the outer corner of his eye with a quick movement, “Look Mr. Daley, we have tried begging and pleading with the wealthy families and corporations of New York, but right now every one has been putting aside their donation money for the new 'Universal Studios' theme park the city would like to open. Apparently Spider Man and Harry Potter hit a little bit closer to home than a 4000 year old mummy.”  
Larry sighed heavily. He understood perfectly, but he refused to give up.  
“Okay, well what if we raised the money?”  
McPhee looked at him haughtily, “You think that the museum can raise 30 million dollars based on it's own fundraisers?”  
“I mean....we will never know until we try right?” It was a long shot, but it was better than nothing.  
The museum director pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and his thumb. He could already feel a stress migraine coming on and it wasn't even 7:30 in the morning yet.  
“And who is going to take on this project Mr. Daley? Who do you suggest takes care of all the brain storming and presenting and managing of these projects?”  
Larry knew where this was headed, but he figured it was better this way than not trying and taking the risk of losing Ahk, and leaving the rest of the guys lifeless forever.  
“Some people were born great. Others had greatness thrust upon them.” He mumbled to himself, “Teddy, you had better be right about this.” He sighed heavily and spoke up, “Dr. McPhee, I will take care of the fundraising.”  
The museum director smiled a “I knew you would do this, you are such a sucker” smile   
“Good. Come up with a list of detailed ideas and present them to me before your shift at the end of the week. I am putting you down on my schedule for an hour meeting, so don't be late and don't blow me off. I'm very busy.”  
“Yes Dr. McPhee. Don't worry about a thing.” Larry got up and headed for the door.  
“Oh and Mr. Daley,” The night guard stopped short, “Make sure the ideas are actually good. Not like all of your inventions. I really would like to keep my Pharaoh.”  
Larry shot him a smile that read both “thanks for this opportunity to save my friends” and “piss off” (mostly the later) before turning and half storming out of the office. It wasn't until he was back in the security office changing into his regular clothes that he realized how mentally and emotionally exhausting that entire conversation had been...not to mention how positively screwed he and the exhibits really were.

“Attention all exhibits! You are all to come to the main lobby for a family meeting immediately! I repeat, family meeting in the main lobby immediately! Every one is to attend. No skipping out. This is urgent and concerns everyone!” Larry's voice rang loud and authoritative over the museum's P.A. System.   
“Dad, don't you think that your announcement was a little much? You are going to put everyone into a panic.” Nicky inquired from the edge of the lobby desk where he was seated.   
“Nicky, everyone needs to find out what's going on with Ahk's exhibit. They have a right to panic; they are about to find out that their whole 'coming to life at night thing' is going to end forever if we don't do anything.”  
“Yeah but still, what ever happened to letting them down easy?”  
“I'm not letting them down Nicky.”  
“Well, I mean you kind of are...”  
“Nicky! Don't go there. I had a nice long discussion with McPhee this morning about what can be done. That's what this meeting is about.”  
“What did he say?”  
“You are about to find out...”  
Just then, Ahkmenrah burst into the main lobby, clutching his tablet close to his chest, and screeched to a halt just in time to avoid slamming into the front desk.  
“I came as fast as I could, Guardian.” He panted, fire in his eyes, “What is the matter? Has some one broken in? If they have, I swear to you that they will not live another day! May Osiris have mercy on their soul, for I'm most positive their heart is far heavier than a feather.”  
Larry noticed the curved, and deadly Khopesh that dangled from his tunic belt and took mental note to never piss the good king off.  
“No Ahk, it's nothing like that.”  
The Pharaoh breathed a heavy sigh of relief, “Then what is this about?”  
“Your exhibit. I had a little chat with McPhee this morning.”  
Ahk's expression darkened, and he handed his precious tablet to his ten year old best friend.  
“Never scare me like that again, Guardian. One word from you and I would have gone to war...and you know how I despise conflict.”  
Larry raised an eyebrow. The Egyptian was truly full of surprises these days.  
“I told you people would panic.” Nicky smiled his 'I told you so' smile at his father.  
Larry shot him a 'keep talking and you're grounded' glare.  
Ahkmenrah hopped up onto the desk and took his place next to Nicky. A few moments later, Texas's hooves could be herd echoing off the walls as Teddy and Sacagawea appaeared in the lobby. Panic was in their eyes too. Larry didn't have a chance to explain though because the Huns came rushing in shouting their battle cry with Rexy hot on their trail. Jed and Octavius were the next to arrive, followed by the rest of their miniatures and the cave people. Columbus arrived on the back of an elephant and the African tribal people rode in on the back of Zebras. The Inuits herded the mammoths and lions into the lobby followed by the civil war puppets with llamas on lead ropes. It was defiantly interesting sight, especially since Nicky had been right and everyone was in a panic.  
“What's going on here, Gigantor?” Demanded Jed.  
“Where is the threat, My Liege?My legion is ready!” Octavius added from the driver's seat of the remote control Hummer.  
“Guys!” he called over the roar of confusion and chaos. Nobody was listening. “Guys!” He tried again. Still nothing.  
He got up, grabbed Nicky and Ahkmenrah by the wrist, pushed his way through the crowd and up to the balcony. “Guys!!!” He shouted again. Still nothing. The exhibits were so panicked that they had resorted to a state of anarchy much like state they were in the night Ahk's tablet had bee stolen by the old guards.   
“I really should invest in a megaphone” he thought to himself. He turned and looked to Ahk for help. Even the young king was helpless. He didn't have the kind of “fear of Ra” that he could put into his subjects here that he did back home...mostly because no one here except for his Jackles were really his subjects.  
“QUUUUIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!” Roared a deep gravely voice. There was instant silence, “My dumb dumb want to speak.”  
The night guard looked over at the Easter Island statue with gratitude. This was the second time his friend had saved him from having to ask Ahk to get his Jackals involved.   
“Thank you.” He nodded at the giant Moai.  
The statue just smiled.  
Larry turned back to the crowd, “Alright, every one just calm down! I said that this was urgent, not that the apocalypse had started.” He ran his fingers through his hair before continuing, “Here's the deal everyone, I got some paperwork from McPhee the other night with some concerning information written on it. Apparently, the museum has lost quite a bit of money lately trying to update and make repairs so that the public will still want to come here as much as they have been these last few years. Business is booming, but not booming enough. The museum was going bankrupt before, and now it's even more in debt. In fact, it's about 30 million dollars in debt.”  
There was a collective gasp. Even for those who didn't really have a good concept of American currency (such as Ahkmenrah and Columbus) understood that the debt was far more than a small fortune.   
“So, as a result, the museum board has left McPhee no choice but to sell off some of the exhibits.”  
There was another loud, collective gasp...and then the chatter started.  
“Hey guys! Quiet!” Larry shouted over them. The room fell silent again. “Now I hate to say this, but the exhibit McPhee has decided he can make the most money off of without having to get rid of anything else just so happens to be the tomb of our great Pharaoh, Ahkmenrah...and his tablet would be going with him. McPhee wants to sell him back to the Egyptian government.” He paused to let that information sink in.  
Ahk held his head high as he looked down over the people he called family and the museum he called home. The idea of being sent back to Egypt, although it sounded somewhat grand, tugged at his heart strings. He could feel a lump forming in his throat and tears stinging at his eyes, but he refused to let his mask of propriety falter. If he looked afraid, their fear would only be amplified, and he couldn't allow that. He was a king, he had to keep order. This museum couldn't handle another outburst of anarchy, not now.   
Ahk's fear and heart break registered in the eyes of his friends and family. Sacagawea and some of the Inuits actually began to cry. Everyone else just looked really mopey and terrified.  
“What are you trying to say Gigantor!?” Jed demanded, his voice cracking as he fought back tears himself.  
“What I'm saying, is that there is a good chance that in six months time Ahk will be leaving us...for good. This whole 'coming to life at night' thing will be over forever.”  
More tears began to streak down wax faces. Even Teddy removed his hat in mourning. The way everyone was acting, it was as if it had just been announced that their best friend had just perished in a terrible accident.  
“However,” Larry began, trying to muster more hope in his words than he actually felt, “There is a chance we can fix this.”  
“If I may ask, how do you suppose we do that, My Liege? No one here has that kind of money.” Octavius interjected.  
“You're right. In fact, not many people in the entire state of New York, or the entire country of The United States of America have that kind of money. In fact, I'm sure even those of you who were once great rulers or wealthy nobles never had that kind of money in your life time.”  
Ahkmenrah nodded in agreement. A long, confused pause fell over the crowd.   
Larry sighed heavily, “We do have a chance to fundraise, however. In fact, McPhee has put me in charge of that. So why don't we all put our heads together and come up with some ideas on how we can earn some money for the museum and fix this.”  
“Laurence, I don't mean to play devil's advocate here, but it really isn't likely that the museum can raise that kind of money on it's own. Even if it could, it would take years and we have but a few months.” Teddy added.  
“Teddy, you are the one that told me we had to try,so that's what I'm doing. We don't really have very many options. It's not like we can walk on down to the bank and ask for a 30 million dollar loan. Now...who has some ideas?”   
Jed climbed atop a desk lamp and started jumping up and down, waving his hands above his head. Had he been in a pool, Larry would have assumed he was drowning.  
“Yes, Jed.”  
The tiny cowboy bent over gasping for air before answering, “How about we have ourselves a hoedown!”  
Larry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I should have known. All they ever want to do is party.”  
“Yes, I agree! A festival would be quite nice!” Octavius agreed.  
Larry ran his fingers through his hair, “Guys, come on. You have to take this seriously. If all you do is spend the next six months partying, then nothing will ever get done and these next six months will be your last six months.”  
“We are taking this seriously, Gigantor. You just aren't listening. Look, I like parties. Toga boy likes parties. The outside world likes parties, brother. If we threw a great big one and charged people to get in, we could make some decent cash.”  
“Indeed, My Liege. The revenue would be nothing to sneeze at.”  
“Guys, that's a great idea but I highly doubt McPhee will allow us to host a party in the museum during operation hours.”  
“Then we don't host it during operation hours.” Teddy jumped in.  
“Teddy, are you suggesting that we turn the museum lobby into a night club?”  
“Of sorts.”  
Well...I see two problems with that idea. First, McPhee will probably say no because of how clean he likes things kept and parties can get pretty out of hand, especially with strangers. Secondly, what are we going to do to explain you guys? We can't exactly tell the guests that you come to life at night, someone would try to steal the tablet or lock us all in a mental institution....or both. Actually, probably both.”  
“But My Liege, we have wild parties here all the time. McPhee never knows the difference.”  
“Exactly you crazy giant, all we have to do is make sure we send everyone home a few hours before sunrise, and take care of all the cleaning up ourselves like we always do.”  
“And Laurence, as far as our guests seeing us up and moving about, it wouldn't matter if they were all in costume as well.”  
Larry looked at Teddy quizzically. “Does he even know what side he is on? One second he tells me that fundraising is a bad idea, and the next he is jumping on Jed's bandwagon. I wish he would make up his mind.”  
“Yeah!Yeah! That's a great idea!” Jed started bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in excitement, “We could host a couple parties during the few weeks leading up to that strange holiday Gigantor Jr. Celebrates. You know, the one where people who think they are fancy buy pumpkin spice flavored everything and little kids get free candy.”  
Larry looked at his son for understanding.   
“Halloween, dad.”  
The night guard nodded in agreement, “Right, so you guys want to throw a Halloween party. Is that right?”  
“Yeah!” Cried Jed as he jumped up and down on top of the lamp again.  
“Alright, great, can someone write that down for me?”  
“Already done, Guardian.” Larry turned to see that Ahkmerah had replaced his golden tablet with a big yellow Legal pad and pen. He had been taking notes the entire time.  
“How long have you had that Legal pad?”  
“Since you told me the meeting was about my exhibit. I borrowed it from the desk in order to take notes. This way you knew exactly what you were bringing back to Dr. McPhee. Sometimes these nights can be long, and if you get caught up in resolving a conflict between exhibits you might forget some of the things you mean to bring back to the director.”  
Larry smiled at his Egyptian friend and gave him a hearty squeeze on his shoulder, “Thank you Ahkmenrah. You really are responsible aren't you.”  
“But of course. I was the ruler of an ancient kingdom. Egypt would have fallen apart if I hadn't been responsible.”  
Larry turned to his son who was still clutching the Pharaoh's tablet, “Pay attention Nicky, you could learn a thing or two from Ahk.”  
Nicky stuck out his tongue.   
“Right, so” Larry continued, “Jed get off that lamp before you either fall and get hurt, or the light bulb melts you.”  
“Yes mom.” Jed mocked as he shot his lasso around a near by pencil holder and used the rope to climb down.  
“Does anyone else have any ideas?”  
Columbus called out in Italian.  
“Okay...Ahk, can you translate that?”  
“Sorry Guardian, I'm not the best person to ask. Perhaps Octavius could help? Latin is closer to Italian than Egyptian is.”  
“Octavius, could you translate that? Please.”  
“Of course, My Liege. He either says that he thinks it would be wise to talk McPhee into having a whole week of museum hours dedicated to Ancient Egypt with fun crafts and things for the children to do, or that he can't find where he put his pants.”  
Nicky giggled.  
“I'm probably going to say that he was trying to promote Egypt week.” Larry stated, “Ahk, make sure you write that down.”  
“Would you like me to add in the other translation as well?”  
“No thank you...”The night guard shook his head exasperated, “Anybody else?”   
Attila was now the one to shout out.  
Ahk nodded his head in agreement with whatever the Hun had said, “Actually that isn't a bad idea.”  
“Ahk, there is a language barrier...remember?” Larry prompted.  
“Right. My apologies, Guardian. He said that there should be a children's day where a magician walks around and preforms some simple tricks. He also suggests that you find someone who can twist thin tubes full of air into representations of basic animals.”  
“He wants me to find someone to make balloon animals?”  
“Yes, I think so.”  
“Alright, add 'magician' and 'balloon artist' to the list as well as 'children's day.'”  
“As you wish, Guardian.”  
Larry turned back to the crowd, “Okay, now we have a list of things that will pull people with children in, what about the adults without kids? What about the 'cultured' people McPhee is always talking about?”  
“What if we had a multicultural festival?” Sacagawea jumped in.  
“And what would that include?”  
“You could pass out fliers asking for volunteers to come in and set up booths and presentations about their cultural backgrounds to share with the public. This could be either during the day, or a few hours after closing. If the festival was hosted here in the lobby, we could all spend those few hours in the back half of the museum until the visitors left. You could come up with an excuse that we were being cleaned or something of that nature.”  
“Sacagawea, that idea is brilliant!”  
She blushed a little and Teddy gave her a proud, but gentle pat on the back.  
“Anyone else?” Larry prompted.  
There was a long silence.  
“No?”  
More silence.  
“Okay then. If anyone comes up with any ideas about how to earn some extra money for the museum, please come find either myself, Nicky or Ahk.” He quickly turned to the Pharaoh, “Ahk, you don't mind helping me by listening to their ideas do you?”  
“Of course not. Listening to the ideas of my people was one of my responsibilities when I was alive, and I do not intend to neglect it now that I am not.”  
“Thanks, buddy.” He turned back to the rest of the exhibits, “Alright guys, try to have a good night and don't let the time restraint get to you too much. Now lets do this people!...and animals...and weird faceless puppet things! Let's save Ahk's exhibit, and the museum as we know it!”  
The crowd gave out a loud cheer. Ahkmenrah's heart filled to the brim with appreciation. Never before had he had such a group of people who cared so much about him. He couldn't have asked for anything more, and he thanked the gods for the good fortune they had sent his way in this dire time of need.   
Yet, all positive feelings aside, he still felt as if something was off. He couldn't shake this feeling that something was changing inside him, and that something evil and foreboding was headed their way. The feeling shot a shiver down his spine. If his stomach had not been put in a clay pot after his death, it would have turned to ice. He stood there for a moment, and let this restless and foreboding feeling over come him. It wasn't shaken until he saw her....  
Just for a moment, she was there and then gone: The most beautiful girl Ahkmenrah had ever set eyes on. She was young, with short cropped brown hair, huge brown eyes, pale skin, and the most absurd choice of clothing he had ever seen a woman wear. Dressed in a male suit of armor the girl mingled on the fringe of the crowd if only for a moment, talking to no one, before she slipped between two elephants and seemed to disappear into thin air.  
Early that morning, as the sun was about ready to rise, Ahkmenrah lay alone in his sarcophagus distressed. All foreboding and uneasy feelings forgotten, he was still restless. All he could do was lay there and ask himself, “Who was she?”


	4. A Stolen Childhood

When Ahkmenrah awoke the next evening, he was more anxious than ever to be free of his sarcophagus. His claustrophobia was really starting to become and insentient pain, and the knowledge of his six month expiration date hung over him like a sword over his head. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and he was ready to try anything to shake it off. The few minutes it took the night guard to reach his mock tomb and release the pins that locked him inside felt like an eternity.  
When the lid was removed, the brilliant florescent mood lighting from his exhibit temporarily blinded him. He squinted and blinked a few times, allowing for his eyes to adjust, until the Guardian of Brooklyn finally came into view. Normally, the Pharaoh would have sat up immediately and greeted his friend with a thankful smile before climbing out of his coffin...but tonight something was wrong. The Guardian stood over him just as he had every other night when the sarcophagus lid was lifted, but instead of his usual welcome smile, he wore a grim and worried expression on his face.   
Ahk began to panic, “What is the matter?” He asked as calmly as he could.  
“Nothing...” The night guard replied slowly, “But Ahk, you don't look so good.”  
Ahk was taken aback, “Excuse me?”  
“No, what I mean is that you are really pale. Like white as a ghost.”  
Ahk mentally kicked himself for allowing his fear of enclosed areas to actually register on his face. His ability to hide his true feelings were starting to falter and it wasn't good. He let out a heavy sigh of relief, thanking the gods that his friend's worry was from something as trivial as his own facial expressions.  
“I am dead, Guardian. It's no wonder that I am pale.” He laughed darkly at his own morbid joke.  
“Are you sure you are alright....” Larry inquired, skeptical of the Pharaoh's front.  
Ahk knew his friend wasn't about to let the topic go, so he came up with a slightly less embarrassing excuse.  
“I just had some rather awful dreams today is all.”   
It was a bad lie and the king knew it. He couldn't dream. During the day when the tablet acted as nothing more than a priceless museum exhibit, he was nothing but a corpse. A perfectly preserved corpse, but a corpse none the less. Then, when the tablet brought him to life at night, he hadn't the need for sleep. The tablet's magic kept him from experiencing any kind of physical exhaustion, so sleeping wasn't really a thing that needed to be done. Yet, even though Ahk knew this, Larry did not. Thus, the night guard bought the story.   
With a single “understanding” nod of the head he reached down to lend the Pharaoh a hand out of the coffin. Ahk accepted it graciously, and after being pulled to his feet smoothed his tunic, grabbed his crown from a near by display case and placed it upon his head. It was all Larry could do not to chuckle at just how pretentious the young king was.   
As the two walked towards the hallway, Larry gave each of the Jackals a nod. Ahkmenrah spoke to them in Egyptian, asking them to look after his tomb while he was away, his usual nightly comand. They replied with a bow of the head and their fist over their heart, a sign that they would gladly and willingly obey their master's orders. Ahk's heart filled with pride. It was nice to have such obedient servants at his side.   
Outside in the hall, a very bummbed Nicky sat pretzel style on the floor with his head leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling.   
“Hey.” he greeted lamely at the sound of approaching footsteps.  
Ahk took one look at his friend and instantly began to worry.  
“Nicholas, what is the matter?” He asked gently.  
“Nothing...” The child answered in a monotone voice, “Just kind of bummbed is all.”  
Larry let out an agitated grunt. He absolutely couldn't believe his son was mopeing around like this.  
Ahkmenrah glanced confusedly between the night guard and his son, “What are you, uh...'bummbed' about?” He inquired further.   
“Dad asked what I wanted for my birthday, so I told him and now he's treating me like I'm the kid from 'A Christmas Story' and I asked for a bee bee gun. I even got the whole 'You'll shoot your eye out' speech and everything.”  
Ahk was very confused by this response. He didn't know what 'A Christmas Story' was or what receiving a 'you'll shoot your eye out' lecture meant, but he felt as if he should at least try and comfort his friend. If it was a weapon Nicky wanted and that his father would not give him, then he had some experience and ancient words of advice in that area he could offer.  
“Nicky,” The Pharaoh consoled gently, “Perhaps your father won't give you a weapon because he doesn't feel that you have proved yourself a capable worrier yet. I was defeated by my older brother twelve times before I was given my first Khopesh.”  
Nicky slowly turned to look at his surrogate brother. His expression was one of “what the heck are you talking about?”  
“No, Ahk, I...I don't actually want a bee bee gun for my birthday.”  
“Oh.” Ahk nodded slowly, embarrassed. He had completely missed the point. “Then what was it that you asked your father for?”  
“A tablet.” Nicky grumbled with a slight glare in his dad's direction.  
Ahkmenrah was shocked; that was definitely not what he expected Nicky to say. Had he been his older brother he would have assumed that such a proposal was due to the fact that the younger boy idolized him, but Ahk wasn't his half-wit brother and dismissed the idea the second it formed in his mind.  
Off to the side, Larry tried not to chuckle at all the thoughts he knew were running through Ahk's head (the Egyptian's expression was quite revealing). Even if Ahk didn't understand exactly what kind of tablet his son had been pestering him about, he was sure that with the Pharaoh only knowing of one in existence, he was going to side with him. Nicky wouldn't be happy, but at least the argument would be over once and for all.  
The Pharaoh shook his head slowly, “Well Nicholas, I can't see why your father would disagree with such a request. After all, I was only a year older than you when my parents bestowed my tablet upon me.”  
Larry face-palmed. This was not the direction he had hoped the conversation would have headed.  
“I mean, I can see where getting a hold of that much gold can be a bit of a problem in today's market. Finding a skilled enough craftsman would be a bit difficult as well....and then there is the matter of finding a magician who has a direct line to Osiris, but of all things I'm sure that will be the easiest. Egypt is full of them, and I wouldn't mind helping your father find the right one for the job...”  
Nicky smiled smugly up at his father, “See dad, even four thousand years ago kids got tablets for their birthday.”  
Ahk glanced between Nicky's bitter amusement and Larry's agitation, confused. He felt like he was missing some key idea, but he had no clue what it was.  
“Nicky,” Larry warned, “Keep pestering and you're grounded. I will call your mother to come pick you up and you will have no DS all week.”  
Nicky rolled his eyes but bit his tongue. He knew that if his father had the nerve to ground Attila for acting up, he would have no problem sending him home and taking his games.   
Just then Teddy and Texas came skidding around the corner.  
“Laurence!” The president called with urgency.  
“What is it, Teddy?”  
“The cave men have gone after the mammoth again...and this time one of the spears are caught in the poor creature's shoulder.”  
Larry ran a hand through his hair, his mind reeling. “Alright, go find Sacagawea. She knows more about how to help an injured animal than any of us do. I'll take care of the cave men.”  
“But Laurence, the poor creature is running around terrified. It's going to take forever to catch up with him.”  
“God, you're right.” The night guard turned to Ahk, “Can I borrow your Jackals, please? We only have one horse who knows how to heard in this museum and a mammoth is quite a bit larger than a buffalo.”  
Ahk nodded vigorously, “But of course.” He shouted something rushed in Egyptian and the dog-headed statues gave their usual nod of the head and placing of their fist over their heart. “I told them to follow you, find the animal and restrain it without harming it.”  
“Thanks, Ahk.”  
“No problem.”  
“Nicky, stay out of trouble and whatever you do, don't let Jed talk you into giving him my credit card number.”  
“Why does Jed want your credit card number?”  
“Just....don't do it okay.”  
Nicky giggled a little, “Alright dad, I promise.”  
“Good.”   
Larry jumped up on the back of Texas, and he and Teddy sped off around the corner. The ground began to shake as the Jackals took their first steps outside the ancient egypt exhibit into the museum beyond. Ahkmenrah grabbed a near-by pillar for support as the ground continnued to shake, and Nicky grabbed a hold of his cloak. The Pharaoh shouted autoritativly in his native language as the massive stone figures passed. They gave a single grunt and continued on their way. The ten-year-old looked up at his friend confused.  
“I told them not to break anything.” Ahk explained as the mini-earthquake caused by the Jackals became less and less the farther they got away.  
Nicky smiled and let go of his friend, “Good idea.” he took his seat back against the wall and Ahk followed.  
“So, Nicholas, tell me more about this tablet you asked your father for.”  
Nicky couldn't help but giggle, “it's not the kind of tablet I'm sure you are probably thinking of. It's not ancient and it can't bring things to life, and it's not even made of gold.”  
“Then, what is it made of?”   
“Glass and plastic mostly, and wires...and this thing called 'rare Earth elements' which is the reason that mom says it's so expensive. Well, I mean she says that it's because of that and the fact that Apple knows that people will pay the crazy prices.”  
“A tablet made of glass and plastic...I've never heard of such a thing. What does it do?”  
“Well, It can do a lot of things. It can link to the wifi so that you can search the internet, or you can download apps to check Facebook, or Instagram, or....a lot of other social media stuff. But I'm too young for any of those according to dad....”  
“Oh, so this tablet has the power to act like the computer in the front lobby....the one Jed and Octavius always play 'crush the candy' on.”  
“Yeah, it's like the computer but it is small and can be carried to places esier. It would fit in m back pack. And you can play 'Candy Crush' on the tablet too, but I won't. That game is too much of a mom game.”  
There was a slight pause as Ahk took in all this new information. When he was growing up, his tablet was one of a kid, but the way Nicky spoke it sounded as if tablets were a lot more common.   
“Nicky...can I ask you why you want this tablet?” The Pharaoh had a hunch, but he wanted to make sure.  
“Well, because...because it's cool. It's cool and I can play games and take it places like I can't do with mom's computer.”  
“Are you sure that's the reason?” Ahk looked at his younger friend skeptically.  
“Well....” Nicky hesitated, “I guess part of it has to do with the fact that...”  
“It seems like everyone else has one.” Ahk finished.  
“Well....yeah. Everyone else has one and so everyone is...cool.”  
“Well Nicky, you too are 'cool.'”  
“That's your opinion Ahk. Everyone else at school seems to think otherwise.”  
“And you think gaining this material object will win you over allies, is that correct?”  
Nicky dropped his eyes to the floor, ashamed. “Yes.”  
Ahkmenrah nodded as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together in his mind. He still needed to know one more thing before the picture became clear, but it meant asking a rather intrusive question.  
“Nicholas...” he began slowly, “Has anything changed at home recently?”   
Nicky looked at him confused, “My step-dad hired an artist to paint the 'New York Islanders' team logo on my bedroom wall.”  
Ahk chuckled, “Anything else?” he prompted gently.  
Nicky's face fell, “Well...My mom's cousin's daughter had a baby and she is too young to take care of it so my mom and step-dad took her in. I have a new baby sister.”  
Now things started to make sense, “Let me guess, now that the baby is in the house you feel like your mother and step-father have been forgetting about you.”  
“Yeah.” Nicky spat, “I was trying to play 'Mario Kart' with Don the other day and the stupid baby started crying and then he was busy taking care of her all night.” there was deffinately some resentment registering in his voice.  
Ahkmenrah sighed heavily, he understood the situation completely. “Let me see if I understand this correctly...you think that your mother and step-father have forgotten about you because of the baby and you also feel as if you have no allies at school.”  
“Yeah, but if I had a tablet then people would like me at school and I wouldn't have to worry about mom and Don because I would have other people to play with.”  
Ahkmenrah had definitely seen this situation before, “But an ally who stays at your side because of the material possessions you own, is no ally at all. They pledge allegiance to your-for a lack of a better word-wealth, but as soon as you turn to them in your time in need they turn and run with their tails between their legs.”  
“But friends who like me for what I have is better than having no friends at all...” Nicky was beginning to cry.  
“Nicholas, you have friends. What am I? What is Theodore? Yes, we are adults but we love you for who you are, not what you have and if the time ever came that you needed us to go to battle for you...may Osiris and the other forty one judges of the Underworld have mercy on their soul, for they would need it.” He stated darkly.  
“Yes, but Ahk, I only have you,Teddy, Rexy, and Dexter when the sun goes down. At school, during the day....I have no one. That stupid baby has taken all I have left.”  
“You have your father don't you?”  
“Yeah but he's......” Nicky growled in frustration, “You just don't understand! You had parents who were together and who gave you a magical tablet because they thought you were responsible. You were a king! Nobody ever dared to tease you because if they did they would be thrown into a pit of scorpions!” Ahk raised his eyebrow at this statement, “And you had people to build you Pyramids and if anyone ever tried to hurt you, you had an army to protect you, and...and...you were an only child weren't you?” Nicky was bawling now.  
Ahkmenrah just looked at him, “What, in Ra's name are they teaching you in your history class? Scorpions....seriously? You think I dropped people into a pit of scorpions? Where does one even find enough scorpions to fill a pit?”  
“I don't know.” He sniffed, “But I saw it happen in a movie once. The Pharaoh got angry so he threw a guy into a pit of scorpions.”  
Ahk just shook his head disappointed, “Hollywood...I should have known. Look Nicholas, I wasn't the type of king to go around throwing my enemies into pits full of arachnids. That Pharaoh in your movie was probably a more accurate depiction of my brother, Khamunrah...Which yes, I did have a brother.”  
Nicky wiped his nose on the back of his hand and lifted up the bottom of his shirt to dry his tears, “You did?”  
“Yes.” Ahk stated bitterly, “And as far as being teased goes...” he sighed, removed his crown and set it off to the side before leaning his head back against the wall and shutting his eyes, “Alright Nicky, I'm going to tell you a story.”  
“What kind of story...” Nicky asked skeptickly. He feared that his friend's tale was about to turn into one of his grandfather's 'back in my day' tales that usually has a moral at the end.  
“A story about when I was growing up.”  
Nicky groaned and slammed his head back against the wall as well.  
Ahk smiled an amused smile, “No, please Nicholas settle down. Your enthuseasm is too much for me.”  
“Shut up.” Nicky slapped him playfully. Something about the idea of a four thousand year old Pharaoh using sarcasm always made him lighten up a bit.  
The Egyptian chuckled, “Okay, so one thing you need to understand is that I wasn't always a Pharaoh. Yes, I have always been royal, and yes I have always been a son of Horus, but I haven't always been a king. Once, I was the younger son who had absolutely no chance of taking the throne. My older brother, Khamunrah, was first born; therefore, he was the one to inherit my father's place as ruler, not me.   
Now, you would think that I would have been jealous knowing that there was very little chance that one day I could become ruler, but I honestly wasn't. My brother was eleven years older than I, and I looked up to him. When I was very small, all I ever saw was the good in him, and I wanted to be like him. I loved him and thought the world of him. Little did I know however, that this feeling was not reciprocated.   
As it turns out, my brother felt for me much the way that you claim to feel about your younger sister now...only probably hundreds of times stronger. He wasn't just mildly annoyed with me, he resented me. He felt as if I had stolen my parents' attention away from him, the future ruler. He even took it upon himself to fake a speech impediment in attempt to shift their attention back to him. This was a habit that unfortunately stuck, and made him sound absolutely ridiculous. The sound of Ancient Egyptian being spoken with a lisp is the most irritating thing in the entire world.  
As I got older, he wanted to spend less time playing with me, and more time teasing me and tricking me into doing his bidding. I was young and didn't know any better, but I still ended up the one scolded more times than not. He would take my things from me and hide them, or destroy them, and convinced the servant children to do the same. He didn't even care about the consequences they faced for being cruel to the young prince. It was awful. The children would get into severe trouble, not with my parents, but with their own and instead of being angry with my brother who had convinced them to do what they did, they took their resentment out on me. Growing up, I, like you, felt as if I had no friends.   
Then as I got to be about six or seven, my parents' attention shifted back to my brother, as he was to come of age soon and take over as ruler of our land. I felt suddenly abandoned by them as I began to spend more time with the servants raising me instead of them. My brother's arrogance grew and so did his tenancies for cruel behavior. As I would spend time taking lessons in philosophy and mathematics and all of the other things we were taught as young princes, I excelled far past him and it only twisted his personality more. He had me labeled as the palace...um, it doesn't translate to English well...what do you call people who are super clever and are teased because of it?”  
“A nerd.” Nicky chimed in, intrigued.  
“Ah, yes. He had me labeled as a 'nerd' which meant that the abuse by the others only got worse now that I had a name that I could be called...besides 'your majesty' that is. It was like Kah calling me such a thing gave the others the right to do so as well.   
Then, when I turned eight, it was as if some kind of switch flicked in my parent's minds that allowed them to realize that I too had leadership skills, and I began to be trained in the ways of a future king along side my brother. My life became one of duty and propriety. My mother told me years later that it was due to my ability to stay positive trough my brother's abuse, and my ability to smile at the people who had done me harm and not wish them any harm in return. What she never knew was that my logic was that if I was friendly towards the people who hated me, then perhaps they wouldn't hate me any longer.  
When I was nine, I began my training as a worrier. 'If I was not to be king, at least I could still be a good military leader' that was my father's ideology. He gave me a wooden sword and the best trainer our land had to offer as my mentor. The only hitch was that in order for me to become a solider, I had to first defeat my older brother in a match and earn my first real khopesh. It took me eleven tries. I was skilled and followed the rules of combat. He cheated.   
Our father said that we were allowed to take each other down, and that a few bumps and bruises and sprains were to be expected. However, he absolutely forbade any intentional breaking of bones, since at that time a broken bone could end a fighting career forever if it didn't set correctly, and we were not allowed to intentionally cut each other. My brother, of course did all of the above. It took me eleven tries to defeat him because I was usually so beat up that I couldn't function. When he broke my wrist and put a deep cut along my neck on the tenth time, I became angry enough to defeat him on the eleventh. This was the first time my parents' came to recognize my brother's cruelty.  
By the time I was eleven, his resentment turned toward the people of Egypt, not just toward me. All of his pent up anger and frustration he took out on the innocent. When people came to him asking him for help, he turned his back on them feeling as if he was above them. If someone looked at him from the wrong angle he treated it as if they had attempted to murder him and gave them a public execution. He killed anyone who got in his way and anyone who said they preferred me over him. All the while, I was out trying to repair the metaphorical bridges he had burned no matter what it was that needed to be done. After all, 'people shouldn't fear their governments, governments should fear their people'”  
Nicky was thrown off guard by the use of this phrasing,“Hey, that was from my comic book, 'V for Vendetta.'”  
Ahkmenrah chuckled, “Indeed. Your father found it in the back of his car a few weekends ago and lent it to me to read because I was feeling restless. I figured you would understand that quote more than you would understand an ancient Egyptian proverb that doesn't translate to English very well and would need a lot of explaining.”  
Nicky giggled and nodded in agreement.  
Ahk smiled, “Anyway, the way Kah had things going, he wasn't even king yet and the people were on the verge of rebellion. Therefore, I was out in the villages almost daily trying to keep the peace. I even spent some time out in the fields doing manual labor to help the farmers who's crops my brother had burned in a fit of rage. This was unheard of for a prince of my time, but I didn't want my people to starve because my brother...um...how would your father phrase it...oh, I didn't want my people to starve because my brother had a 'temper tantrum.'”  
Nicky's eyes were wide with amazement, “You did this all while you were eleven?”   
“Indeed.”  
“Dude, you were like, my age and you were fixing a countries political problems. That's amazing! You're so cool Ahk!”  
The Pharaoh chuckled, “I guess so, and I guess my parent's must have agreed because not too long after I had started doing this they gifted me my tablet. Then, they did something completely unheard of: they offered me the throne. As the second son, I was honored, but skeptical. I knew taking on the position of ruler would anger my brother, but at the same time I knew that Egypt would become a tyrannical hell for all who lived there if I refused and allowed my brother to take what was considered to be his birth right. So, I accepted.  
At 14 my mother passed away, and out of grief my father retired as ruler. When the news was released to the kingdom, there were riots that broke out everywhere out of fear that my brother would be taking his place. My coronation was the only thing that kept Egypt from breaking out into a full scale civil war. Then, from that point forward my life was nothing but duty, responsibility and propriety. I built some monuments, kept my brother at bay, and had made friends of the people who had once been so cruel to me. They respected me now that I was in charge...or so I thought.”  
Nicky looked uneasy, “What happened Ahk?”  
The Pharaoh opened his eyes and straightened his posture. He met his friend's uneasy gaze and a shiver ran down the child's spine.  
“Remember what I had said about having allies who only care about the things that you have?”  
Nicky nodded, “They only stick around for a while, but as soon as you get into any kind of trouble they run scared.”  
“Yes, and that's exactly what happened.” Ahk's eyes hardened and his jaw clenched, “The people who had once been cruel to me befriended me once I gained the throne. I was nice to them because I knew that if I returned the favor of what they had once done to me, then the chances of resentment spreading through the palace would be higher, and more trouble would be likely to brew. Yet even though I was kind, they only liked me because of my position of power. They were afraid of me...they were not my friends. I learned this the hardest way any person can.  
One night, some trouble started in the southern part of my kingdom. Some invaders had started harassing my people, so I sent my troops out to deal with the matter. This of course, was the night my brother decided to start something himself. He picked a fight with me, right in the middle of the throne room when all of my best officers and guards were gone. We got into some...aggressive negotiations, and...”  
“What are aggressive negotiations?” Nicky interrupted.  
“um...” Ahk wondered if he should go into more detail as Nicky looked at him expectantly. He decided to just be blunt without giving away too much, “It's negotiations...with a khopesh.” he spat.  
Nicky nodded slowly as he began to understand.  
“Right, so we got into some aggressive negotiations and we ended up repeating what we had done when I was younger. I followed the ancient rules of combat, and he...well, he cheated. When I was pinned to the ground, I called out desperately for help....and all of those people I thought I had reconciled with...they either ignored me, stood there and watched, or ran away. In the end, I wound up literally stabbed in the back by my own brother. In fact, he mutilated me.   
It was only a few days after I had turned eighteen that he killed me. I had just become what you consider to be an adult here in America, but in reality it felt like I had grown up long before that. It was as if his cruelty and immaturity stole my childhood, and I can honestly say that I hate him for that. He is the only thing that I have ever felt that I have had good reason to be bitter about....and even thus...I still love him. He was my brother. I might despise the person that he was, and probably still is in the afterlife, but he was family and so, I love him.  
I am just ever so grateful for the help of Anubis and Osiris, whom I am sure were the ones that allowed for my father to hold my burial in secret once my brother had stolen the throne. Especially Anubis who guarded my tomb for all those years and made sure that my tablet stayed with me, always. For if it wasn't for him, I would not be here talking to you. If my brother had had it his way, I would have wound up like Osiris after his brother Set came after him...thrown in a box, sealed with lead, and dropped to the bottom of the Nile.”  
“That's awful!” Nicky shouted, “How could he do that to you, your own brother!?”  
“Jealousy Nicholas, it makes us do terrible things. That is why you shouldn't resent your new sibling. She is an innocent child like you, and when she grows up she is going to need a brother to protect her, to fight for her. The last thing she should have to worry about is a brother who will betray her.”  
“Like Thor and Loki....” Nicky mumbled to himself, “Alright Ahk, I see where you are coming from and you are right. I don't want to grow up to hate her. She is really adorable and sweet, she just annoys me a lot.”  
“Siblings will do that.”  
“Yeah...I guess I should offer to help out with her more. That way mom and Don have time for both of us.”  
“A noble proposition. And what have you learned about friends today?”  
“That a friend who is there for the things you have is no friend at all....” The child hesitated, “And that there is no better friend in the world thank you Ahk.” Nicky leaned into his ancient friend and wrapped his arms around his waist.  
Ahk stiffened for a moment, not expecting this level of ferocity from the young boy, before warmly hugging him back.   
He rested his chin on Nicky's head, “You are the 'coolest' person I know, Nicky, next to your father and....I am proud to call you brother.”  
The two relished in the moment, but all the while Ahk's expiration date continued to hang over him. It seemed he and Nicky were closer now than ever before...and right when the end was neigh.   
A few minutes later, the Jackals retuned to their place guarding the Pharaoh's exhibit, and Larry came to take Nicky down to the security office to complete his homework. Ahk promissed that he would be there to help him as soon as possible, but he had to make sure some things were in order with his guards before hand.  
Not long after Nicky and his father disappeared down the stairs, another ruckus started. Ahk poked his head around the corner of his exhibit's archway just in time to see the exotic, beautiful girl he had spotted the night before sprinting down the hallway with an angry mob of Templars chasing after her. The Pharaoh stepped out into the hall to ask what was the matter, just when the girl chose to look over her shoulder at her pursuers. As a result, she didn't see him standing there, he didn't have time to jump out of the way and she slammed right into him. They both came tumbling to the ground.  
The girl looked up at him enraged, “Out of my way you pompous, pretentious idiot!” she shouted at him in French.   
Her pursuers had caught up to her. She scrambled to her feet, but not before snatching Ahk's khopesh from his belt.  
“A good sword, that's what I need.” she continued in her native language. She struck out at her attackers with skill and full force. Ahkmenrah was amazed, never had he known a woman so skilled with a sword....besides maybe....  
Just then several Templars fell to the floor at the Pharaoh's feet and the girl took off sprinting again, his khopesh still in her hand.  
He would have called after her, but he didn't have the chance...the Templars grabbed him instead.


	5. The Inquisition

“Nicky, I thought I told you to do your homework before you started playing Pokemon.” Larry scolded from his desk in the corner of the security office.  
“Is it that you really want my homework done, or that the battle music is making it hard for you to read your boss's fancy language.” Nicky playfully sassed from the couch across the room.  
“Actually, both.”  
Nicky giggled, “But dad, it's Friday. I have until Tuesday to get it done; I don't have school Monday.”  
Larry looked up from the reports McPhee had given him to read and shot his son a skeptical look.  
“What? My teachers are protesting again so they canceled school.”  
“Again?!” Larry face-palmed “Come on! Your mother and I don't pay fifteen grand a year to send you to private school so that your teachers can keep demanding a pay raise. If anyone needs a pay raise, it's me.”  
Nicky rolled his eyes. “Here comes the speech again.” he thought.  
“Seriously, with what I have to go through with Rexy every night I should be getting hazard pay.” Larry continued, “Some nights I wonder if the job I really got hired for was as an animal trainer at 'Jurassic Park!' I mean, do you remember the time McPhee noticed Rexy's loose rib and sent it in for repair? He went absolutely nuts!”  
Nicky sighed, “Dad, just let it go.”  
The night guard noticed the 'here we go again' look on his son's face and decided to stop his ranting. “Anyway Nicky,” He continued, “ you need to get your homework done. You don't want to have to do it on your days off. What do you have left anyway?”  
“I have to read some poem about some guy who has to walk a bunch of miles before he can finally go to sleep, which I think is really stupid...Oh, and I have some geometry too.”  
“Well,” his father answered, running his fingers through his hair, “I take back what I said. You should do the poetry stuff Monday with your mom. I know what poem you are talking about and I always got that wrong when I was in school. Your mother is a creative writer and she likes Robert Frost, so she is the one to talk to. As far as the geometry goes...”  
“Dad, don't even try.” Nicky got this horrified look on his face, “Last time you helped me, I failed the test. Mom says that you shouldn't touch my math homework anymore.”  
Larry was a bit put off, “She said that, huh?...Well...I mean, she's probably right, but I was going to suggest that Ahk help you. If he can build a pyramid, he can find the area of a um....” Larry picked up Nicky's geometry sheet and read one of the questions, “He can find the area of a quadrilateral based off of the angles of the three internal triangles...?” he raised an eyebrow, “What is this? Math, or Greek? Like, I don't get it. You'd need a separate dictionary to understand this stuff.”  
“We have one dad. It's a math-terms dictionary.”  
Larry shook his head, “I can't believe I pay for you to learn this crap...”  
Nicky giggled, “Neither can I.”  
Upstairs, and way out of earshot of the night guard, two very burly men in 15th century armor, brandishing a huge red cross down the front grabbed Ahkmenrah gruffly by the arms and yanked hum to his feet.  
“What the hell do you think you're doing!?” The Pharaoh demanded. He was pissed. No one had ever dared to treat him like this before. What he didn't know however was that the men grabbing him were Templars and Templars simply couldn't care less. They were kind of like Vikings in the respect that according to history, they took what they wanted and never looked back. If something got in their way, they destroyed it. Anything new or different was an obstacle and anyone new or different that agreed with something they did not, they killed.   
“You sir, are under arrest.” One of the men with a long blonde beard stated mater-of-factly.  
Ahkmenrah was appalled, “Under arrest?” He raged, “First of all, if you have been residing in this museum for any amount of time you would know that pulling a stunt like this is highly against the rules. Secondly, you can't arrest me, I'm a Pharaoh! I am a son of Horus, and my tablet is the thing that brings you to life. I demand respect! Now, please tell me what I have done to deserve this, and get your hands off of me!” He demanded.  
The two men didn't let go. In fact, their grip got tighter.   
“You want us to tell you what you've done?” scoffed the other man. He wasn't waering a helmet and Ahk could see that he was a redhead with huge blue eyes and freckles.  
“Yes, what have I done?” Ahk snapped.  
“You helped the hieratic, that's what you've done. She's gotten away thanks to you, and with a weapon none the less.” His accent was a strange combination of Irish and Northern English, and Ahk thought it was the most irritating sound in the world....next to his brother's lisp of course.  
“I didn't help her, she stole my Khopesh.” The Egyptian shouted, “Although, now that I see what kind of people you are, I'm glad she did. Also, I don't appreciate the name calling. I don't know what a 'heretic' is, but I'm not rather fond of you using it to refer to a lady such as her.”   
The two Templars bust out laughing, “That's no lady. Have you seen the way she's dressed?”  
The blonde-bearded man's gaze hardened and nodded at the rest of the warriors behind him, “After her.” he ordered.  
Ahkmenrah, fourth king of a fourth king and ruler of the land of his father had reached his limit. Usually, he was pretty cool-headed. It did not take much to irritate him, but it took quite a bit to anger him and he was far beyond the point of anger. The girl was in trouble, that much he knew. He wasn't exactly in the most ideal of situations either, but he had to make a choice. If he didn't rescue the girl, there was a chance something awful would happen to her. These men were strangers. He hadn't seen them around before, and they clearly didn't understand the rules so they must have been new exhibits that Larry hadn't the time to explain everything to yet (The injured mammoth had probably delayed that a bit) which meant that whoever the girl was, if she was being chased by them then she was probably going to die if they caught her. As for Ahkmenrah...well, he was a captive but he knew he could take care of himself if the time came. Granted, he didn't have his Khopesh, but a lifetime of dealing with Khamunrah had taught him that biding his time and not showing off his capability to his enemies was better than allowing them the chance to scope out a weakness. If he complied and went along quietly, his element of surprise had a better chance of increasing tenfold. It was a gamble, but she was in trouble and he was already dead....it wasn't like he could die again...right? He resolved to rescue her first and foremost.  
His captors began to march him down the hallway, past the entrance to his exhibit. He held his head high and complied easily enough, but smirked when he caught a glimpse of his gurads faces out of the corner of his eye. The two fifteen-foot tall statues glared at the two Templars that had ahold of their master. Their lips were pulled back over their massive, deadly canine teeth in a terrifying snear. A Nasty growl echoed through the exhibit and the corridor just outside.   
The Templars stopped short in fear, drawing their swords. Ahk's smirk grew wider; The Templars had just proven themselves a threat to him, and the Jackals were none too pleased. The two guards rose their spears and jabbed them at their master's captors.  
“Halt!”The Pharaoh ordered in Egyptian. The Jackals stopped short, their spears meer centimeters from the Templars' midsection. The two warriors tightened their grip on Ahk, their swords still drawn as the Jackals looked on in confusion. They didn't understand why their master had ordered them to stop when clearly he was under attack. Their sneers never faltered, even when their master smiled at them menially.  
“Lower your weapons.”   
The Jackals hesitated, but obeyed. The Templars exchanged confused expressions. Clearly the giant statues belonged to the boy they had arrested, and clearly they had been trying to rescue their master when he suddenly ordered them to stop. They were as lost as the Jackals. The whole situation was so bizarre. They had attacked the boy, but he wasn't fighting back.  
“Trouble is brewing.” The Pharaoh explained to his loyal servants, “I am the least of your worries. My friend is in trouble; Go and find the pale-faced, brown-haired girl wearing a man's suit of armor and rescue her from these despicable mad men.” he nodded his head in the direction of the Templars, “ Do not harm them unless you absolutely have to, simply restrain them and then bring them to me. Understood?”   
The Jackals dropped to one knee, bowed their head and placed their fists over their hearts.  
“Good. Now, go!”   
The Jackals obeyed and set off to find the mysterious girl their master had ordered them to protect.   
The Templars exchanged a few more terrified and baffled looks.  
The redhead jerked Ahk's arm, “What did you tell them to do?” His voice shook despite himself.  
“Never you mind.” Ahk spat in defiance.  
The blonde shook his head as if to clear it, “You know what, it doesn't matter.”   
“Right.” The redhead nodded, “We need to take care of the accomplise.”  
Ahk rolled his eyes. A few minutes ago these men had frightened him with their brawn and swords, but now he realized that they were nothing more than simpletons. He was glad he didn't waste his Jackals' energy on these sorry excuses for warriors.   
The Templars tightened their grip on him again and proceeded to march him down the hallway. He didn't even resist a little. He knew that if he wanted to, he could easily take them (especailly now that he knew how easy they were to confuse) but he didn't feel like wasting his time. Besides, he knew that if he passed Larry, Teddy, Sacagawea or Attila along the way things would get a lot more interesting. The mischievous teenager that was trapped inside the Pharaoh shell wanted nothing more than to see how that would play out.

Nicky leaned over his geometry notes with a furrowed brow. He didn't understand anything he had in front of him, and it was really starting to irritate and frustrate him. With a sigh he pulled his Nintendo 3DS out of his back pocket to check the time since the clock on the wall in the secutity office had been broken by Attila a few weeks ago. The numbers on the tiny liquid crystal screen read 11:30pm, Ahk had promised to be down to help him nearly an hour ago. This only made Nicky even more irritated. He slammed the portable gaming system's lid shut.  
Across the room, Larry sat at his desk reading through one of the more lengthy reports McPhee had asked him to go over. Any other night He would have simply just skim-read to get the basic idea of what McPhee wanted, but since the last report about Ahk's exhibit, he wasn't taking any chances. He had gone ahead and put Teddy in charge until he was done doing his paperwork, so he was sure everything was perfectly under control. That is until....  
“Hey dad?”   
Larry glanced up at his paperwork to find his son gripping the couch's arm rest for dear life. His face was sheet white.   
“What's wrong Nick?” He asked cautiously.  
“...Do you feel that too?”  
Larry froze. Sure enough, every few seconds or so the ground shook, causing his desk lamp to bounce up and down in place.  
“Yes. That feels like Ahk's guards are out and about again....” Larry was confused.  
“But, wasn't he telling them to stay put? Wasn't that what he was suppose to be doing this whole time he wasn't here?”  
“Yes...”  
“But then....why are they out again?” Nicky hated to admit it, but Ahk's guards terrified him and the though of them roaming the museum freely and possibly without Ahk's permission gave him the chills.  
“That's a good question Nick. There has to be a reason, Ahk wouldn't just let them roam around. The only reason they would be out would be if...”  
He didn't even get a chance to finish. A high pitched female scream sliced through the air and cut him off.   
Nicky looked at his dad, eyes wide with fear.  
“...If there was trouble.” Larry finished, “That sounded like it came from the lobby. Nicky, stay here.” The night guard raced out the security office door. Nicky, of course, couldn't resist the call of adventure and sprinted after his father. Nothing could have prepared them for what they found in the lobby.   
The up-scale, open, beautiful room that was the museum's lobby had been converted into a prison camp by a group of unusual men in armor. Off in the corner, Teddy, Sacagawea, Attila, his Huns had all been tied together with gags stuffed in their mouths. Rexy was nowhere to be found, and Larry didn't even want to think about what had happened to him. The miniatures had all been stuffed into an empty jar that use to hold extra pens on the desk, with Jed and Octavius separated from them, tied to the desk lamp with some twine. Atop Rexy's pedestal, someone had taken the petrified wood out of the “Jurrasic Rainforest” exhibit and set up a giant post surrounded by smaller twigs, to which Ahkmenrah and the strange girl he had set out to rescue were tied. The Pharaoh had been stripped of his crown, his jewels As for the rest of the museum? It was total anarchy...again. A war had broken out among the exhibits, and the men in armor, the Templars had managed to create a ring around their captives and were swinging swords at anything and everything that threatened to break through their barrier. Most of the exhibits were either cowering in corners or hiding behind desks to protect themselves while the braver of the exhibits (such as Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and the lions) tried to push past the mad men who had caused all the chaos and rescue their friends. All this being said, the strangest part about the whole situation was that Ahk's Jackals stood off to the side completely motionless, glaring down at the instigators, not getting involved. With their Pharaoh tied to a post in the middle of a war zone and his friends in similar situations he wondered why they weren't getting involved.   
Larry watched Ahk's lips move as the Egyptian stared blankly at the wall in front of him. When their eyes had met for that fleeting moment, he had thought the Pharaoh was trying to tell him something, but now he wasn't so sure. Now he just thought that maybe the pretentious teenager had been bonked on the head too hard and was delusional because of some kind of brain trauma....could that happen? Did he still have a brain in his body, or was it put into a jar like the rest of his insides?  
Nicky tugged at his father's sleeve and the night guard jumped.  
“Nicky!” He shouted over the chaos, “I thought I told you to stay in the security office?”  
“I was scared.” The child whimpered.  
“Nick, don't you see what's happening? It's not safe for you here, go back to the office.”  
Tears streaked down his son's face, “Why are they going to burn Ahk?”  
Larry was shocked. He knew the disorder was overwhelming and a bit terrifying, but where were these assumptions coming from?  
“Burn Ahk?...Nicky, what do you mean they're going to burn Ahk?”  
“He's an ancient Egyptian, the other guys are Templars. Ahk has a different religion than they do, and they don't like that. They're going to burn him at the stake, or make him walk off a ledge like they did to Etzio in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Templars want to take over the world! They work with Abstergo company and kidnapped this guy named Desmond and...”  
“Nick, you have got to stop spending so much time playing video games. Nobody is getting burned or pushed off a ledge today. Not while your dad is in charge. Now, if you don't want to go back to the security office, then...” He grabbed his son by the wrist and sprinted across the room, and shoved him back behind the front desk just as an arrow whizzed past the child's ear, “That was close. Now stay here until I get this sorted out. If things get too dangerous, go back to the security office.”  
“What if I can't get there!”  
“Then sprint upstairs to Ahk's tomb and hide in his sarcophagus.”  
“Won't he be upset?”  
Larry ran his fingers through his hair and peeked around the corner of the desk. The fighting had gotten worse and the Templars had stolen some flint from the cave people. If he didn't hurry, somebody was going to get burned today.  
“Look, you know how much Ahk cares about you. I'm sure that if your life depended on it, he wouldn't mind you hiding in there for a little while.”  
“But dad...”  
“Nicky, I don't have time to argue. Just do as I say.” He peeked around the corner again, and this time something caught his eye. Ahk's jackals weren't just standing idaly by anymore, they were staring right at him...and with purpose. He stared back at them for a moment, a little confused, before he realized that one of them was making an ever so slight beckoning motion with it's hand. It was asking him to go to it. He felt a shiver run down his spine.   
“well...this is new.” he thought to himself. He took a quick look at his surroundings and noticed a gap in the crowd where no one was paying attention. He decided to go for it; if the jackals were calling him over it was because Ahk had asked them to...and if they were being subtle about following orders (he hadn't even seen them place their fists over their hearts) than it was because Ahk needed them to be discrete. He took off sprinting across the room once more, saying a silent prayer that Nicky would listen to him just that once. With all the luck of the Irish that was in his family's blood, he made it to the jackals without being noticed by any of the Templars, and skidded to a halt right before smashing into them.  
“What do you guys need?” He asked them, just hardly audible over the full scale riot that was taking place around him. He knew the jackals could hear him. They were, after all, modeled after an actual animal with incredible hearing.   
The Jackals responded by placing their fists over their hearts and slightly bowing their heads to him.   
Larry was once again stunned, “Ahk put me in charge of you?” He thought this was impossible due to a language barrier. Didn't Ahk's guards only speak Egyptian? He made a mental side note to ask the Pharaoh about that later, what he needed to do right now was figure out a way to stop the invasion and save his exhibits. He didn't have a plan, but he had a few hunches, and that was enough for him.  
“Right, so...” he started, “Where is Ahk's stuff?”   
There was the eerie sound of stone rubbing against stone as the statues turned their massive dog heads toward a table in the center of the Templar's ring. Ahkmenrah's crown, cloak, jewels and sword sat abandoned and unguarded atop it.   
Larry shook his head and rolled his eyes “They may be skilled warriors, but they sure are stupid.” He returned his attention back to the Jackals, “Okay guys, I need to get over there without anyone noticing, think you can help me out? “   
They nodded once and one of them grabbed him by the shirt collar lifting him off the fround. Larry had a moment of panic, wondering if they even understood what was going on. Ahk wouldn't let anything happen to him at the hands of his guards would he? He peeked over his shoulder to find his ancient friend still staring blankly at the wall in front of him...though, he swore that there was just a hint of a mischievous, sly smile playing about the corners of the Pharaoh's mouth. Before he even had a chance to think about what this might mean, he was swung skillfully over the heads of the waring Templars and plunked back onto the ground in the dead center of their ring. Everyone was so caught up in their fighting that nobody even noticed.   
Heart racing, and adrenaline pumping through his veins Larry looked the dog-headed statues in the face, “Thanks guys.” He dusted off his security jacket and started heading toward the table in the center of the room, “Well, I can see why Jed doesn't like to be man handled. That was very terrifying and uncomfortable.”  
When he reached the table, he grabbed Ahk's Khopesh and sprinted toward Rexy's pedestal, stopping right in the Egyptian's line of sight. The Pharaoh continued to stare at the wall.  
“About time you showed up.” he greeted the night guard bitterly  
Larry was slightly taken aback. This kind of attitude was not in character for his ancient friend. He was almost tempted to remind the good king of his manners with a nice long lecture about all the crap he just had to go through to get to this point when he realized that that was exactly how he would respond to any other teenager's attitude. This really worried him; never before had he had the urge to treat Ahk like any other 18 year old. Larry had always seen him as much older, a man in his thirties at least. Even when Ahk had acted grumpy or moody in the past, it had never seemed so...adolescent.   
That's when the night guard really looked at his ancient friend for the first time. Without his crown, jewels, cloak, and authoritative aura (which being tied to a post, about to be burned at the stake really killed) Ahkmenrah didn't look like a king. In fact, sitting there in nothing but his shendyt, all tied up, he looked like nothing more than a high school kid who ended up the practical joke of a frat-boy toga party. It was a strange feeling but...Larry actually pitied him.  
Ahkmenrah's eyes suddenly filled with fire, “I know that look. Do not pitty me, Guardian. What you see before you was a conscious choice made for the good of the museum.”  
“You asked them to burn you?” Larry was shocked.  
If Ahk could have face-palmed, he would have. “No, Guardian, what I mean is that I remian a captive without using my guards to cause a fuss because if they did, things would get broken, you would get fired, and the museum would fall into anarchy faster than you can say 'But Doctor McPhee...'”  
“Yes, but how did you end up tied up anyway?”  
“My strategy, if you must know, was to comply until the last second. I was going to fight back right when they least expected it...however a problem occurred.”  
“What happened?”  
“They expected it.”   
It took every ounce of strength Larry had to fight back a chuckle. Ahk was a great leader and a great warrior as well (even though he despised conflict more than anything) but what he had failed to realize is that the Templars came centuries after his society and had used the warfare tactics of the past to shape their current ones.  
“Alright Ahk, let's get you out of here so we can stop this madness and free the others.” Larry used the Khopesh to cut the ropes that held his friend captive.   
The Pharaoh rubbed at his rope burned wrists and turned toward the girl who had been the reason he ended up in this mess in the first place. She stood there, eyes shut with her head leaned back against the post, mumbling something under her breath over and over again in French.  
Ahkmenrah nodded in her direction, “What about her?”  
Larry's face paled and his stomach did a little flip, “We need to take care of the Templars first.”  
Ahkmenrah whipped around to face the night guard, eyes flashing “What?!” He demanded.  
Larry raised his hands in defense, “Trust me Ahk, letting her go while the Templars are still here is a horrible idea. You think your guards will do damage if let loose? She will probably burn this entire building down.”  
Ahk's nostrils flared, “Guardian, you can't be serious!” The thought of leaving this incredibly beautiful woman tied to a post defenseless made him furious and sick to his stomach.  
“Ahk, please. Just trust me on this.”  
The Pharaoh glanced back at the woman who was still mumbling to herself, completely unaware it seemed, as to what was going on around her. He sighed a heavy sigh and tried to put his anger aside. He knew that Larry was only doing what he thought was best for the museum. He could argue if he wanted, but here he wasn't a king. Larry was in charge and although he didn't often exercise his absolute authority very often, he knew that the Guardian of Brooklyn's word was final and even as a Pharaoh he couldn't refuse to obey, or the consequences would be dire for everyone. Besides, he had already made enough bad decisions today to cost the museum trouble. He was in no position to go about doing anything else stupid.  
“Alright.” He agreed begrudgingly.  
“Thank you.” Larry sighed, relieved, “Now, is there anything we can do about the Templars?”  
“Hand me my Khopesh and you will see what can be done.” Ahkmenrah spat.  
“I mean with the Tablet...”  
“Right, of course. We can use it to round them up and keep them from harming anyone else...and we better hurry because I see two of them off in the corner attempting to light some make shift torches.”  
“We don't have much time. Should we send your guards to get it? There is no way any of us could make it to your exhibit and back in time...”  
Ahkmenrah smiled slyly, “No need. I have it right here.” He reached around his back and pulled the Tablet out of a secret pouch in his shendyt.  
Larry's mouth dropped open.  
The Pharaoh chuckled, “How do you think I kept it from falling into my brother's clutches after he murdered me?”  
“Never have I ever been so grateful that your brother was a raging psycho.....but if you had that all this time, why didn't you use it sooner?”  
Ahk rolled his eyes, “I was a bit 'tied-up' Guardian....besides,” He got a mischievous glint in his eyes, “It wouldn't have been nearly as fun.” Ahk whispered a command in Egyptian and the tablet began to glow. A few moments later all of the Templars dropped their weapons, and came together in the center of the room . Larry freed Teddy and the others, and the rest of the exhibits ran back to their places in fear. There was some major damage control to be done later.  
Ahkmenrah went about putting on the rest of his kingly attire and he and the Guardian of Brooklyn faced the Templars. Nicky remained concealed behind the desk. Thankfully, he never had to make a run for Ahk's sarcophagus.   
Larry paced back and forth in front of the trouble makers, trying so hard not to explode with rage.   
“They are new comers.” he kept telling himself, “They didn't know any better”  
Ahkmenrah wasn't trying nearly as hard to conceal his anger...in fact, he wasn't even trying at all. As a Pharaoh, he felt personally responsible for the safety and well being of the museum and it's exhibits, even though that was technically Larry's job. Ever since he was a child duty and responsibility was engraved in him and he found old habits hard to break. He liked to think that it was what kept him humble, although lately that had been a bit of a stretch.   
His face was flushed, his nostrils were flared and his posture was rigid. He held his head high, looking down his nose at the invaders with a nasty glare. He kept his fists and his Khopesh ready at his side, and stood with his feet shoulder width apart in battle stance. His whole attitude dared anyone to so much as breathe without his permission.   
However, even though all of this was going on on the outside, inside the Pharaoh was a swirling storm of guilt, confusion and rage...guilt being the strongest of his present emotions. The girl he had attempted to rescue before was still tied to the post atop Rexy's pedestal, and she was no longer mumbling to herself. Her posture was rigid and defiant, her eyes were open and alert. Her glare was a force to be reckoned with and Ahkmenrah could feel it boring into his back.   
Suddenly Larry stopped short. He whipped around and faced the Templars head on, staring them down. “What, the hell, was that....” he demanded.  
There was no response.  
“Look, I don't know where you came from or who the hell you think you are, but none of that....None of that was in any way appropriate.”  
The Templars just stared back at him.  
“I don't know if you realized...” His voice shook as he tried to remain calm, “But you are in a museum....YOU ARE EXHIBITS!” he shouted, feeling a bit like Woody in the movie 'A Toy Story' when he told Buzz that he was just a toy.  
Still silence.  
He began to pace again, “The real Knight's Templars died off centuries ago. They became the Free Masons, or the Illuminati, or whatever you want to believe, but they are gone. You are made of wax!...or maybe even Polyurethane like Sacagawea over here...” he motioned to the native American woman standing behind him, “Either way guys....you are museum exhibits and on your first night here...you did not make a good impression.”  
“That's an understatement.” Ahk scoffed.  
Larry glared at him, “Ahk...” he warned.   
“I apologize, Guardian.”   
Larry turned back to the Templars, “I mean guys, seriously? Putting the miniatures in jars? Separating them from their leaders?Tying up Teddy and the others?...” he ran his fingers through his hair, “And then there was the attempt to burn Ahk, the guy who's tablet is the reason all of you are able to be alive right now...oh, and what did you do with Rexy?”   
“He's out in the loading dock, Laurence.” Teddy interjected.  
Larry sighed and slumped his shoulders, “Great another mess I have to clean up...Attila, can you and your men please go get started on that?”  
Ahk translated that into Hun and Attila nodded and headed toward the loading dock with his army. Larry turned his attention back to the lecture he was giving.  
“Now....is there anything you have to say for yourselves?”  
There was a heavy pause before the redheaded man who had helped capture Ahk finally spoke up.  
“We didn't have a choice. They were all protecting the heretic.”  
Behind them, the French woman rolled her eyes and huffed.  
“Yes, Especially the Egyptian. He gave her a weapon.” added the blonde.  
Larry raised his eyebrow at Ahk.  
“She stole my Khopesh...” he explained, “And they accused me of being an accomplice. Then I mentioned 'for the love of Ra' and they all but had a heart attack. They really have something against Osiris, Bast and the other Egyptian gods, I'm telling you...”  
“Ah.” Larry nodded in understanding, “Now listen here, at this museum there is no such thing as He racy and there is no burning, limb ripping, tar and feathering, hanging, or any of that other torture and capital punishment stuff. We get along here and respect eachother's beliefs...and If you can't do that then you can end up like the Mayans. I'm in charge here and if you refuse to play by the rules, well then I'll lock you up and make sure you don't cause problems for anyone else....where did you guys come from anyway?”  
Just then Nicky ran up with a slip of paper in his hand.   
“Cleveland.” He answered, “They are from a small medieval museum in Cleveland. According to this report form Dr. McPhee that you had stuck to your shoe when you left the security office dad, they are here as a sort of rest stop on the way to a museum in England. They arrived today and will be leaving early tomorrow morning. This place is just sort of a half way house until they reach their new home.”  
Larry took the slip of paper out of his son's hand and skimmed it over.   
“What else does it say, Gigantor?” Jed inquired.   
“It says that in an attempt to make up for some of the lost funds, the museum will be accepting a lot of these temporary shipments. Nicky was right in saying that this place is a half way house. We will be seeing more of these one night exhibits...which could mean a lot of trouble.” He looked down at his watch, “Four hours 'till sunrise guys and this place is a disaster. Ahk, please use your tablet to send these guys back to their boxes. We need to get this place cleaned up....oh, and have your guards escort them to make sure that they don't cause any trouble along the way.”  
“As you wish, Guardian.” Ahk nodded in obedience before giving the orders to the tablet and his guards.   
“Oh and Ahk...how did your guards understand me earlier when you put me in charge of them?”  
Ahk smiled a slight smile, “They understand English, they just prefer that their orders come in Egyptian. They still don't understand this museum fully after doing nothing but watching me get locked up every night for 52 years. Egyptian is like a security blanket to them...a last bit of familiarity and comfort. They may be stone but thanks to my tablet they have a conscious like you and I and it is the least I can do to give them that when I'm the one that causes all of their internal turmoil. I mean, they can't even voice an opinion, so it is my duty to make sure I figure out what it is that they need to be happy...and that happens to be orders and being spoken to in their native tongue.”  
Larry was stunned, “And you figured all of this out how? As you just said, they can't speak.”  
“They say that 'eyes are the window to the soul', Guardian. Every other minuscule part of a person, their posture, their voice, the way they carry themselves may suggest that they are feeling one way, but they can never mask their true feelings in their eyes.”  
Larry just nodded along. He was thrown off guard by how 'deep' this conversation had gotten, and didn't know how to respond. Ahk just smiled.  
“The Templars are gone, you should free her.” He nodded at the girl tied to the post.  
Larry handed him the Khopesh, “Yeah, not so sure that's a good idea. Why don't you go free her. You have more battle experience than I do.”  
Ahk raised an eyebrow, confused by his Guardian's statement. The girl had gotten herself captured, how much of a warrior could she really be? Sure, he was no one to talk...but he had complied on perpose. She had been clearly running for her life before.   
He shrugged and sauntered over to cut the ropes from her wrists.  
“Bonjour” He greeted with the only French he knew.  
The girl rubbed her wrists, glaring at Ahk. After a moment she raised her arm and slapped him hard across the cheek. His head turned sideways with the force of the impact, and his lip started bleeding. The girl had one hell of an arm on her.  
“By the misery of Set's army of the damned...” He cussed in Egyptian, “What the hell was that for!?”   
“For getting me captured! You and your Statues de chien demi-wit, half-wit dog statues, nearly got me burned at the stake....AGAIN!” She jabbed a finger in Larry's direction, “And you!” She jumped off of Rexy's stand and got right up in the night guard's face, “You promised this wouldn't happen. You promised that never again I would be persecuted for being the warrior that I am! Then you go about leaving me tied to a post in the middle of the lobby while everyone else runs free, and you talk about me right within ear shot....as if I can't hear you.”  
“I didn't think you could, you were kind of mumbling to yourself.” Larry retorted, terrified.  
“I was PRAYING!!!!” the woman raged “Sacrè bleu! You have to be the absolute worst night guard we have ever had! At least the other three kept us all locked up so I never ran the risk of being attacked by outsiders!”  
Larry was starting to cower, something Ahk hadn't seen him do since the first night he had an encounter with his guards. He felt as if he should do something.   
“No wait just a moment miss...” He placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder.  
She wheeled around and slapped it off, “Don't touch me, Ramsese!”  
Ahk rubbed his hand where his knuckles were now bleeding, “My name isn't Ramses. He was my great, great, great, and so on grandfather.”  
“Oh I know who you are, but apparently you don't know who I am. Which is ironic because you stomp around here, cape fluttering in the wind, tablet in hand like you own the damn place! But you don't! This isn't Egypt, Cleopatra! You aren't a queen anymore, so quit living in da-Nile!”  
Ahkmenrah didn't know what to feel. Never had he ever been so disrespected like this since he became a Pharaoh (With the exception of Khamunrah of course). He didn't know if he should be angry, or hurt, or...attracted? There was something about the way the way the woman's cheeks turned pink and her eyes flashed dangerously when she was angry that Ahk found...endearing. He wasn't afraid of her like Larry was, even though he wasn't use to a woman with this much sass, but instead he found himself liking her even more than he had the first night he set eyes on her. She was dangerous and clever...two things Ahk couldn't resist.  
“What is your name?” He asked her in a calm and quiet voice.  
“Jeanne d'Arc....or in English, Joan of Arc...and don't go around thinking you can call me 'Joany' or 'Jay' like some of the others in this museum have, or I will kick your ass like I did theirs. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some post traumatic stress to go deal with now that this little event has brought back the memories of my first burning. I bid you all farewell, and warn you to leave me alone!” And with that she turned and stormed off, shoulder checking Larry on her way out.  
Teddy, Sacagawea, the cave people, Larry, Nicky and Ahk all exchanged exasperated glances.  
“I Like her!” called Jed from the desk, “She's not afraid to keep King Tut in line.”  
“I'm not so sure that is a good thing, Jed.” Larry added in, “She was being rather rude and disrespectful...” He turned to Ahk for confirmation, but the Pharaoh didn't notice.  
He just stood there, gazing after her, biting his lip, lost in thought and fighting against the emotional whirlpool going on inside him.


End file.
